The history of Ireland’s social housing
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What is the historical significance of Ellis Court as Ireland’s first social housing development?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance.
Ellis Court was Ireland's first social housing development, welcoming its first residence in the eighteen eighties in Ben Burb Street in Dublin. And for over one hundred and forty years Ellis Court was home to the families who live there. Now it's celebrating a brand new lease of life after a total refurbishment. Its history is celebrated in a new exhibition called Echoes Through the Hallways, which is opened in the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barys, and I'm joined in the studio now by Doctor Emir Rosato, who was research and policy specialist with Tua Housing, and Ronnie Byrne, who's with us on the line. Ronnie grew up in Ben Burb Street from the nineteen forties through until the nineteen sixties.
And you're both welcome. Emer. Ben Burb Street, the history of Ellis Court. Will you tell us a little bit about it, going all the way back to the eighteen eighties? Of course.
So thanks so much for having us on to talk about the exhibition today. Um we really appreciate it.
How did early businesses and trades shape the community around Benburb Street in the late 1880s‑1900s?
So the Ben Burb Street was a incredibly colourful area and it's home to not only multitudes of different um organizations and stores, but also the museum itself and the life around the museum definitely all interconnected with each other. So the story of Ellis Court, it's not just about the building, but it's about the people who lived in the area and all of the different uh characters that hopefully we've portrayed during the So
it tell me about the businesses that existed there in the early years, the the ear the late eighteen eighties into the nineteen hundreds.
Yeah, so they had um greengrocers, they had butchers, they had tailers, manufacturers, all which were interconnected with the barracks itself. They all provided that industry surrounding it. Um and a lot of the tenants who would have lived in the artisan dwellings at the time, you could see on the census records that they were that's where they were all employed during uh around that area, which makes the kind of connection to space, the heritage of that building and the area and then the barracks itself, it's also interconnected.
So so people did people live there right up to the nineteen seventies when it fell into disrepair? What what was the history there?
Yeah, so the buildings were occupied actually right up until two thousand and five, but d there were different parts of demolition throughout the seventies and eighties, I think. Um, but right up until 2005, and unfortunately there was a fire. Um and after that then unfortunately the building fell into disher power until around 2017, when the kind of refurbishment started then on what we now know as Ellis Court. And now, tell us what it looks like now. Now it's absolutely spectacular, and I encourage everyone to go down and have a look.
Why did Ellis Court fall into disrepair and what events led to its abandonment by 2005?
The old facade remains the same, the old brickwork. Um all of the windows are remain the same. Um it is uh refurbished up to with beautiful high spec balconies, which are all glass, which provide a lot of natural light into the building. But the courtyard is absolutely spectacular and the tenants have talked about how much they use it um to do community events.
Well Ronnie, let's come to you and you can tell us about your family now, because your family goes back well, your family's history in Ben Burb Street in the area goes way back to to eighteen fifty, is that right?
That's right. Hello, Claire. And thank you for having me again and uh nice to speak to you. Uh yes, my family go right back to uh just after the famine, where five generations of my family lived in Benberb Street and they also worked there as well. Uh My family were n normally were all uh boot repairers, so uh it was quite a busy place. And uh we lived in a house which was on the like the commercial end of Bemberb Street, if you like. Uh it wasn't where the Ellis Court is today. So it was a three story house with a return and we occupied the ground level of the house. So I had a
What does the recent refurbishment of Ellis Court look like and how does it preserve original features?
I had five siblings. So there was eight of us actually occupying uh a shop with uh two rooms at the rear.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the historical significance of Ellis Court as Ireland’s first social housing development?
0:01–1:01
2
How did early businesses and trades shape the community around Benburb Street in the late 1880s‑1900s?
1:01–2:36
3
Why did Ellis Court fall into disrepair and what events led to its abandonment by 2005?
2:36–3:53
4
What does the recent refurbishment of Ellis Court look like and how does it preserve original features?
3:53–5:24
5
How did Ronnie Byrne’s family experience daily life on Benburb Street during the 1940s‑1960s?
5:24–6:32
6
What role did the local cinema and street‑side commerce play in the community’s social life?
6:32–7:42
7
How does the ‘Echoes Through the Hallway’ exhibition connect personal memories to heritage preservation?
7:42–9:08